


Spared

by orphan_account



Series: Heart of the Sea [1]
Category: Hermitcraft
Genre: I'll continue this eventually, M/M, Or at least add onto the au, Pirate AU, Pirates, Slow Burn, Tags Are Fun, This isn't set in a season, mild violence, not really - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 09:47:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23469394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Pirates were hard to describe in one word. They were smelly, rotten, illiterate, incomprehensible, rude, and overall unpleasant. But if Grian had to pick one word to describe them, it’d have to be “unpredictable.”
Relationships: Doc/Grian, Grian/Doc
Series: Heart of the Sea [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1688353
Comments: 23
Kudos: 193





	Spared

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this after seeing some artwork by Gridoc on tumblr. I have no real plans for it and will add on as I feel, but man do I love a good pirate au.

Pirates were hard to describe in one word. They were smelly, rotten, illiterate, incomprehensible, rude, and overall unpleasant. But if Grian had to pick one word to describe them, it’d have to be “unpredictable.” Especially this particular pirate- Captain Doc. He ruled over the seas with an iron fist. (Grian didn’t know if that was a joke or not, the guy did have a prosthetic.) He’s had run-ins with the guy before on different ships, always clashing swords at least once with each encounter. According to the stories, Grian really shouldn’t be alive. Doc was ruthless, cutting down any pesky sailor who got in his way. Grian was supposedly the only one he had ever spared.

“He didn’t spare you, Grian. You beat him in that match.” Mumbo sighed as they walked along the pier. Mumbo had never understood Grian’s need for adventure and the sea, but he remained a good friend regardless. 

“When have you ever known a pirate to be honorable?” Grian replied. “We dueled, Mumbo. Pirates don’t exactly follow the rules when it comes to dueling. Pirates don’t even duel!” He stopped and groaned, rubbing his face tiredly. 

“Why are you so worked up about this?” Mumbo exasperated. “You won, and you got promoted to first mate! You should be celebrating and instead you’re a worried mess! I mean, isn’t that my job?” The mustached man chuckled slightly. 

Grian smiled slightly. Mumbo never failed to make him laugh. But his head was still spinning from the battle. The way Captain Doc, the captain Doc, stared up at him in shock. Then that stare turned into a deep chuckle as he held his hand out, signalling his own crew to lower their guns. 

_“You’re good, sailor.” He chuckled, his voice rumbling Grian’s core as the sailor gripped his sword tightly._

_“T-thank you.” Why did he say that? You don’t thank a man who destroyed your ship and killed the captain._

_Captain Doc stood, staring down at Grian. “Alright. A deal’s a deal. You win…?” He trailed off, expecting a name._

_“Grian.” He replied, feeling awfully stupid afterwards. Why the hell did he give a pirate his name?_

_“Grian.” The captain echoed, Grian’s name rolling off of his tongue slowly. Doc chuckled. “I like it. Alright, Grian. I will spare you and what remains of your men. You can even keep my sword, if you like. On one condition, Grian.”_

_The sailor resisted a shudder. He hated the way Doc said his name, like he was devouring candy. “What?” Grian hissed._

_In a flurry of movement, suddenly Doc had grabbed his wrist and spun him around, taking the sword from him and holding it to his throat. “When we meet again, I expect another duel.” The captain growled into his ear, shoving his own sword into his neck, drawing a spot of blood. Then suddenly he was gone, barking at his men to board their boat. He turned to face the sailor, Grian’s sword in his hand as he smirked._

_“Farewell, Grian. I’ll see you again soon.” ___

__“Grian!”_ _

__The sandy blonde snapped his head up just in time for Mumbo to pull him out of a pole’s way. He blinked, panting slightly. “Woah, sorry!” He cried, as Mumbo laughed beside him._ _

__“Easy now, or I’ll have to call you Bumbo Jumbo.” He chuckled, but it quickly died. He took his friend’s shoulder. “Are you that freaked out about this?”_ _

__Grian sighed. “I know I shouldn’t be. The ocean is huge, and the chances that we’ll run into each other again is ridiculously small, but…”_ _

__Mumbo didn’t need him to continue. He knew Grian well enough to pick up on certain things. “I’m sure it’ll be fine, Grian. You’ve wanted this since we were kids. First mate on one of the most important ships in the harbor!”_ _

__The sandy blonde smiled. “I guess you’re right. I won’t let some vague promise keep me from this.”_ _

__“That’s the spirit! Come on, let’s get something to drink before you leave. I’m not going to let my friend mourn the best thing that’s ever happened to him.” Mumbo chuckled. Grian chuckled and let his friend drag him to the nearest tavern. He always hated coming back to this little town, but he loved spending time with the one person he could truly be himself with. However, even with his best friend, his head was still spinning with thoughts of a dangerous pirate captain and the promise the pirate had made._ _

__~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_ _

__Captain Doc stared at the sword on the wall, the metal gleaming in the twilight sun. It was a simple blade, and Doc could tell the sailor had looted it off a corpse before dueling with him. His fingers drummed against his desk. That sailor had no formal training. If he had, he certainly never attempted to use that training. It was what puzzled Doc so much. The man fought like he was in a bar, and yet he still disarmed the fiercest pirate in all the seven seas._ _

__There was a knock at the door. “Come in.” Doc huffed.  
His first mate, Ren the Dog, came to the door. “Captain, I just need you to approve this next course and-” He stopped as he glanced at the sword. _ _

__“Is something on your mind, Ren?” Doc asked, waving him over._ _

__Ren bit his lip as he set down a few parchments in front of him. “...Sir, not that I’m questioning your leadership, but...why did you spare that sailor? I could’ve finished him off.” He asked._ _

__Doc hummed. “The simple answer is that he intrigues me. Not even that cowardly first mate dared to take me on, and the captain was a joke. But this sailor, thin as a twig, jumps up and challenges me.”_ _

__“But isn’t that just arrogance?” Ren asked._ _

__“Any other time, yes. But this sailor, Grian, was different. He wasn’t fighting out of pride, he was fighting out of desperation and courage.” Doc explained. “ _That,_ my friend, is why I spared him. Because he wasn’t some royal dog like the ones before him.”_ _

__Ren slowly nodded. “I...I think I understand, sir. One last question, though. Do you really think we’ll see him again?”_ _

__Doc chuckled. “Oh, a man like that can’t ignore the call of the sea. I’ll see him again. I’d stake my life on it. Tell Etho to continue on our course.”_ _

__Ren nodded. “Yes, sir.” He replied, quickly stepping out of the room._ _

__Doc turned away from the blade and out towards the sea. “Don’t disappoint me, _Grian.”__ _


End file.
